“My Phone Is Like My Office”: Refugee Women’s Social Media Entrepreneurship in Dar‐es‐Salaam

Catherina Wilson, Mira Demirdirek and Kwanza Dignity
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Catherina Wilson: Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, The Netherlands
Mira Demirdirek: Institute for Middle East Studies, German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Germany
Kwanza Dignity: Non‐Profit Organization, Tanzania

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: In this article, we explore the cases of two Congolese refugee women who have pivoted their social media engagements to entrepreneurship to offset their immobilization resulting from the Tanzanian asylum regime. The fear of losing access to mobile communications amid the introduction of biometric SIM card registration highlighted the critical importance of mobile telephony to the livelihoods of urban refugees in Dar‐es‐Salaam. Based on ethnographic research, including qualitative interviews, focus group discussions, and (digital) observation, we look at the entrepreneurial opportunities facilitated by social media. While highlighting how virtual mobility and connectivity provide an already marginalized group with essential workarounds, our findings also underscore how these online encounters do not substitute for the need for offline connections. We argue for a nuanced reading of technology’s potential to resolve disparities, as we also observe how this potential can reinforce intersectional discrimination based on gender and precarious legal status.

Keywords: ICT4D; informal livelihoods; social media; technology in Africa; urban refugees; virtual mobility; women’s entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10869

DOI: 10.17645/si.10869

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